Ch.12 - Humanistic and Positive Psychology Flashcards
Humanistic Tradition
- an area of philosophy that emphasizes the personal worth of the individual and the importance of human values
- focuses on higher human experience like creativity and human potential
- introspective
- values unique person
- non-deterministic: advocates free will
Phenomenology
• one’s conscious experience of the world, everything a person hears, feels, and thinks
Free Will
The realization that only one’s present experience matters, as the past is gone and the future has yet to happen so we can choose what to think, feel, and do
Construal
- everyone’s is different
- forms the basis of how you live
- free will is achieved by choosing your construal
Introspection
• perceptions and thought processes
Existentialism
- A reaction against rationalism, science, and the industrial revolution
- regain contact with the experience of being alive and aware
- asks many “why” questions
Thrown-ness
- important basis of experience
- being thrown into modern society is difficult as there seems to have no overarching meaning
- religion plays a smaller role in creating meaning and purpose compared to the past, no modern substitutes have emerged
Angst
Intense feeling of internal emotional strife
Existential Crisis
Feeling of uneasiness about meaning and choice in life
Anguish
- felt by everyone
* choices are never perfect and lead to both good and bad outcomes
Forlornness
- desolate, lonely, sad, forsaken
* each person must make their own choices
Despair
• the awareness that many outcomes are beyond our control
Optimistic Toughness
Acknowledging that things are outside of our control, but we can focus on our own actions
Living in Bad Faith
• ignoring the existential questions and ignoring our moral imperative
Living a Cowardly Lie
• it is important to examine our lives, to realize how fortunate we are to be alive and aware
Authentic Existence
- alternative to bad faith
- coming to terms with existence, being honest, insightful, and morally corrected
- will not relieve loneliness
- life has no meaning beyond what you give it
Becker’s Theory
- humans are capable of being aware that they will die
- we create buffers against constantly being aware of death including self esteem, close relationships, religions, and occupying social roles
Erich Fromm
- dialectical humanism
* reconciles the biological side of human beings and the pressure of societal structure
Dialectical Humanism
- believes that people can transcend determinism through free will
- understands life by determining whether actions benefit others and whether they make the world a better place
Carl Rogers
- core of personality is positive
- suggests the nature of people is basically socialized, forward moving, rational, and realistic
- a need for positive regard and self-actualization can be met with unconditional positive regard leads to self actualization
- a need for positive regard and self actualization can be met with conditional positive regard leads to self discrepancies
Self Discrepancy Theory
• self esteem is defined by the match between how we see ourselves and how we want to see ourselves
Distortion
- getting conditional positive regard
* still feeling anxious
Self-Actualization
Becoming everything one is capable of becoming
Self-Descrepencies
Mismatch between the ideal self and the real self